Office Gossip

Traditionally, women get a lot of criticism for gossiping. By gossip, we mean to start a rumor, talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature, or to engage in or communicate idle, indiscreet talk.

Now, is it true that women gossip? Of course. They would prefer to call it "comment." Are men guilty of gossiping as well? Hell yeah.

Pretending that none of us gossip is a farce. We all do it. Same thing with lying. Men lie more, while women tell the bigger lies (just ask Chris Rock). Women gossip more, but men are not lagging too far behind.

hard to resist

After all, you hear about a juicy rumor, and it is pretty hard to keep it under wraps, so you tell one person, if and only if they promise, no, swear, that they will never repeat it to anyone else. Yeah right.

By mid-afternoon, half the population knows about your rumor, but unfortunately, the story has changed slightly: although Joey slept with Michele at the party, it now turns out that Joey and Michael got to know one another a bit better at the party. Poor Michael had too much to drink so he doesn't even know what is going on when the rumor hits him.

mixing business with pleasure

It is one thing to gossip when in school. Some would even argue that this is what makes mundane classes interesting. Perhaps one can argue that students are young and immature and they will be prone to say what they want, even if it less than 100% accurate.

The problem arises when you gossip at the office. Is it ever justified? Does it have a place in the work environment? Can it harm a company's performance when it becomes a distraction?

related to work?

The first question to ask yourself is whether or not this piece of info is at all related to your company. If you hear that the company is planning to shut down and consolidate offices somewhere else, you may naturally be concerned enough to ask a colleague or supervisor about it.

Although asking your supervisor is proper, you run the risk of getting a spin doctor type answer, so you may want to ask a colleague who would be more willing to spill the beans; too bad he or she would not have an accurate answer anyway.

The second factor to keep in mind is the kind of position you hold. If you are an executive, VP, or anybody in a senior position with subordinates, you must lead by example, and unfortunately, blabbing about office innuendo is just not correct.

If you are chattering about office romance, then it is definitely wrong because this does not necessarily even belong within an office. If you are gossiping about office-related news, then you are not serving your fiduciary duty since you are jeopardizing the company's prospects and health by creating a distraction.